The Sandwich Incident
by rotclady
Summary: Oneshot. After what happened in the med pod, Fitz is trapped in his head while Simmons keeps him company.


"He should be conscious any day now." Fitz heard someone say. A male voice.

Everything sounded tinny and far away. As if he was under water.

_Underwater…_

"Dr. Banner concocted this serum himself," the voice continued explaining. "He has full faith that it'll work."

"Sir," another voice chimed in. A very nice British accented one, Fitz noted. "This serum, it won't have any...consequences, will it?"

"Yeah, like turning into a crazy green rage monster?" A girly American voice cut in.

_Crazy green rage monster? Just what did they inject him with?!_

"None that we're aware of. Just repairs the brain at a remarkable pace," the male voice stated, "let me know if there are any changes." And then he heard footsteps of him walking away.

It was silent in the room for a few moments before he heard a sniffle and then the American girl saying, "Hey, I already told you, he's going to be okay! This serum should work." Another sniffle. "You don't need to feel guilty! He's alive because of you, you saved him-"

"No, he saved me!" the British voice cut in and then whispered, "He's the hero."

_"You're the hero..." _

That line, from a different time, echoing and bouncing around his head.  
And then everything else came rushing back.

_Jemma._

* * *

_1...2...3...Now!_

And nothing. Not even a twitch.

Fitz sighed. Or at least he would have if he could have. Whatever this Banner serum did made his mind feel fully operational, but unfortunately, no one told his body that. He couldn't open his eyes, or crinkle his brow, or wiggle his toes. He was trapped in his mind and saw no way of getting out.

From what he picked up from the medical staff when he first 'woke up,' he'd been unconscious about two weeks. Now it's been almost a month.

And Jemma's been next to him the whole time.

Everyday she'd leave for an hour or two, (he thought; it's harder to gauge time when you're inside your head) and always come back smelling like vanilla and honey, mixed with latex gloves, and sometimes a hint of something else he just couldn't quite place.

Other than that she was always with him.  
He hoped for her sake there was a couch or something she was sleeping on at night.

But even though she was always with him, she never talked to him or touched him. The only time he'd here her voice was when another member of their team popped by. Throughout the weeks he's heard a lot of flipping of pages, or tapping of a tablet, and sometimes footsteps of her pacing.

She paced a lot.  
She was currently pacing.

He remembered one night at the Academy when they were in the library studying together for one of the first times; he was leaning back on the rear legs of his chair, balancing a pencil between his nose and mouth. She was pacing around the table and making zigzags around the piles of books they had stacked around it.  
_"Simmons, you're making me dizzy."_ He told her.  
_"Well, excuse me for actually trying to solve this problem! You're just-ah!"_ As she was reprimanding him, her foot hit a pile of books that caused her and the stack to collapse.  
Her shout startled Leo, and he lost his balance, falling backwards in his chair.  
The next thing he knew, they were both gasping for air, not from their falls, but from laughing so much.  
A few minutes later the librarian (who he bet was at least a level 6 agent) kicked them out for "disturbing the peace."  
In between laughing fits on their way back to the dorms, Fitz realized that maybe having a friend wouldn't be so bad after all.

Who knew how strong that friendship would become?

He heard Jemma gasp, stop her pacing, and then run out of the room.

_Well, alright then. Hear you later. _

But when she came rushing back she was talking animatedly to someone."...And there was a flare in his brain activity! Look, May!"

They were standing by his head, looking at what he guessed were monitors. "Look, right there! And it stays strong! It goes back down again, but still! Something's happening! Do you-do you think he knows what's going on in his surroundings? I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I read about a few cases where..."

Jemma kept rambling and he guessed May was standing there in her usual stoic way, with a hint of amusement in her eyes.  
"Should I go inform Director Coulson of his progress? Yes, I think I must! Can you stay and watch over him while I'm gone? I'll only be a few minutes! Thank you!" And then he heard her scurry out of the room once more.

It was so silent in the room he thought May must have left as well, but then she said sternly, "Fitz, you better wake up soon." And then in an uncharacteristically softer voice, "Who knows what Simmons will do if you don't."

* * *

"Fitz..."

If Fitz could have, he would have raised his eyebrows. This was the first time she's actually talked directly to him.

"I don't know if you can hear me,"

_Loud and clear. _

Jemma grabbed Fitz's hand with one of her own.

_Well this is new, too._

"But I want you to know..." Her grip tightened on his. "...that what you did down there was remarkably brave."

_I did it for you._

Now both her hands were enveloping his and bent towards her chest, as if she was trying to pull him out of this sleep towards her.

"And that we need to talk," her voice seemed to be getting stuffier. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "We need to talk because," and then Jemma let out a heartbreaking sob and it was as if a dam broke. "because you're a complete arse!"

_Er...excuse me?_

"You're a complete arse, Leo Fitz!" Jemma repeated, tears now streaming down her face and her voice much louder than before. "How could you think- no, how could you _ever_ believe that I would be okay with leaving you down there? How can you even _think_ that I would be fine without you? We've been side by side for as long as it matters..."

_Beside me the whole damn time._

"We've been beside each other the whole damn time!" Jemma repeated, as if reading his mind, "I need you, Fitz." Her voice was desperate, but her sobs were quieter. "I need you," she whispered. "And we need to talk because you're a jerk and pushed that bloody button before I could tell you that..." Jemma paused and let out a shaky breath. "You're more than that too. You're more than that, not only to me, which I thought was bloody obvious; Skye certainly thought it was," she sidetracked and grumbled.

Fitz knew how she felt; he certainly had his fair share of teasing from their hacker friend.

Jemma continued, still crying quietly "but you're more than that to the world. You're brilliant, Leo."

Fitz felt a hand lightly touch his cheek. He then sensed that she stood up and was now hovering over him.

"You're brilliant...and kind...and funny..."

Even if Fitz could move his body, he's pretty sure he'd still be frozen solid; Jemma Simmons was kissing him. After every adjective she'd kiss his jaw, then move up to his cheek, then his temple, just as she did in the med pod, but slower and softer, while avoiding all the wires connected to his head.

"And strong...and courageous...and loyal..."

He could feel the wetness of her tear stained cheeks brushing his. He wished he could wipe her tears away.

"And sometimes absolutely frustrating..." she let out a watery laugh, "but adorable..."  
She paused and Fitz could feel her warm breath on his closed mouth.

_Now would be a _great _time to snap out of it_, Fitz told himself.

Jemma leaned her forehead against his. "And my best friend in the world."

She pulled away and sat back down in her chair, grabbing his hand again.

She didn't need to say it again, her voice was echoing inside his head, her desperate and silent plea repeating "Wake up."

_I'm trying, Jemma._

* * *

One afternoon, probably a couple days later, Fitz was being entertained by the sound of Jemma ruffling papers and scribbling stuff down occasionally. He then heard a soft clank as, he guessed, her pen fell to the ground. She was probably trying to twirl it between her fingers, she did that a lot when she was trying to figure something out. Always ended up with her dropping it, too.

As she bent down to pick it up, Fitz got a waft of her usual vanilla and honey scent, along with the latex, and...

_Wait a moment...was that a hint of homemade pesto aioli? _

Fitz gasped awake, several wires popping off his head as he sat up suddenly. It was as if he was coming up from underwater after being submerged for a very long time.

Jemma jumped up, hugging her papers to her chest, and screamed, "FITZ!"

His eyes watered from the sudden intensity of the fluorescent lights, his head throbbed, and his throat felt like it was rubbed raw, but he managed to croak out "THE SANDWICH!"

Confusion crossed over Jemma's face, he was sure she thought he lost his mind in his unconsciousness. "Fitz, I don't-what are-" she couldn't finish her sentence as her eyes filled up with tears.

"The sandwich," He repeated, clearing his throat, "prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a hint of homemade pesto aioli!"

"You - you remember_?_" She was still standing frozen at his side.

"Of course I do. Anyways, the sandwich," Fitz said, "I'm so sorry, Jemma. I-I lied to you. That mission Ward and I went on, where you packed me that sandwich; I told you it was delicious, and I'm sure it was, but that evil prick made me throw it out! And I didn't want you worrying about _why _we had to throw it out so I told you that I ate it, and you know what," Fitz continued, "that should've been a big warning sign that he was evil, I mean, who throws out a perfectly good sandwich. Especially when-"

But he was cut off as Jemma threw her arms around him, papers scattering to the floor, and sobbing into the crook of his neck.

With only a moment of hesitation due to the surprise, he tucked his head into her shoulder and wrapped his good arm around her tightly, only now realizing his left arm was in a cast.

After about an hour, when they were both devoid of tears, Fitz whispered, "I'm sorry," and she knew he wasn't talking about the sandwich incident.

* * *

**A/N: That sandwich dialogue has been buzzing in brain for a while now and I just had to get it out. **

**Has anyone tried this sandwich? It sounds really good. **

**Now I'm hungry.**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of Shield. **


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